DA audit resolution

Expressed approval of Resolution 14423, saying an independent review could show where the DA's office can improve.

A retired professor and grandmother, she said institutions repeatedly fail girls and young women and expressed confidence the Legislature would do the right thing.

Speaking as a survivor using the name Jane, she described personal experiences of assault and harassment and said women are angry and exhausted, urging the wrongs be righted.

Described survivors she has known who received little justice, including a friend told by a DA that no one would believe her, and supported the independent investigation.

A Cornell graduate worker with UE Local 300, he questioned whether the DA's apparent ties to Cornell donors compromised his objectivity and urged a yes vote.

Said DA Van Houten has lost the community's trust, citing the 2019 Ferguson/DeGroote arrests and his handling of the Jane Doe evidence, and declared 'I stand with Jane Doe.'

A Cornell undergraduate who argued the DA failed Jane Doe by declining to review new evidence, not informing her of the decision, and later issuing a victim-blaming press release.

A tenants union volunteer, she supported the resolution and the SVU, and described survivors facing housing crises and the advocacy center's lost funding.

A former legislator and Public Safety Committee chair, he urged the body to go slow, send the resolution back to committee, and work collaboratively with the DA rather than pass an accusatory audit.

Defended DA Van Houten as following the evidence and law, criticized the governor and attorney general for taking the case, and urged a no vote, calling the resolution a misplaced vote of no confidence.

Thanked Legislator Weiser and argued the resolution is about transparency and public trust, not an attack on the DA, quoting the sheriff's own words that examining the system is not an accusation.

Pushed back on claims the community has lost trust in the DA, noting many residents wrote in support of him and that most facts remain unknown.

Joining by Zoom from Dryden, the former legislator supported Resolution P and strongly backed Randy Brown's budget amendment to fund waste diversion from the landfill with a $5 solid waste fee increase.